Crowdsourcing measurements for loudspeakers?

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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Per a conversation started here, what does everyone think about crowdsourcing the measurement of loudspeakers? There are a lot of speakers that I see enthusiasm for by audio hobbyists but never any real verification of their performance. I can test many speakers and publish the measurements, however it does take effort and time, so it is not something I am willing to do for free (the only exceptions are speakers that I am personally very interested in which I would not charge measurement fees for). Personally, measurements give me a much better idea of how the speakers sound than any subjective report (but then, I deal with this stuff frequently so I have a lot more experience correlating measurements to experience). The measurements provided would essentially be what can be seen with any of the Audioholics reviews, and perhaps a few extras that we don't normally publish. Keep in mind, I am only offering measurements, not a full review.

Here are some conditions for the speakers that can be tested:
  • No speakers that Audioholics has plans to review or potentially review, obviously
  • No tower speakers over 90 lbs. (or bookshelf speakers over 90 lbs. for that matter)
  • No really expensive speakers, so nothing approaching five figures or over. I don't want to be held liable for really pricey stuff.
One potential issue that needs some thought is if the community wants to buy a new speaker for measurement, what should be done with that product? Kurt has suggested a raffle system where people can buy raffle tickets to win the speaker. Anyone have other ideas here?

I haven't set a final fee in mind for what i would charge, but for standard set of measurements, I am leaning around $500 per speaker, maybe more if I have to cover shipping charges. If you think that is expensive, consider that it does eat up pretty much a whole day for me. Also consider what it would cost for a full set of measurements from any other organization.

Something to keep in mind is that I do not do spin-o-rama graphs or wide vertical graphs for tower speakers. That is only for bookshelf speakers and some center channel speakers.

I am just taking a temperature here, I don't have any real plans to set anything up like this at the moment. Do you think that the audio community would be interested in funding measurements of loudspeakers that get a lot of discussion? It would put to rest the endless speculation that we sometimes see of loudspeaker performance in many social media circles. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please do not hesitate to share.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I like the idea. No real input beyond that. I see value in having a data-bass type source for speakers.
Considering the level of expertise and specialization required, a fee of $500 seems completely reasonable. I bill between $60-75/hr for my professional services as a Chef with the expectation of working approximately 10 hours with heavy labor.
Beyond that, it would be cool if this were somehow a part of Audioholics. But knowing that measurements by themselves could make some unwilling participants unhappy, I get why that may not be feasible. If this needed to be run independently, you might need a web-person to help you get set up more like data-bass... or better! Of course, there might be such a friend amongst us (not I), who would give their time. Just something to consider. (Maybe they get their opportunity to “Call” a pair of speakers for themselves as initial payment in trade.) ;)
Hope this can gain some traction!!!!

Best,
R
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
"data-bass" = a database for audio information. Now that is too cool, Ryanosaur is on to something!
Actually could be the most appropriate name for the project.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
 
G

Grandzoltar

Full Audioholic
Thinking of a way to get the speakers to your test bench is important. I suggest getting the community involved like putting it to a vote for which speaker gets tested but each vote costs a certain amount of money. At the end of testing each person that voted gets to be entered into a raffle to win the speaker. I feel you would get a lot more speaker traffic this way. Waiting for one person to pay 500 and give you a speaker is a specialized type of market tightening the window of the type of speakers you test this has to be for any type of speaker for any type of person to be fruitful.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Thinking of a way to get the speakers to your test bench is important. I suggest getting the community involved like putting it to a vote for which speaker gets tested but each vote costs a certain amount of money. At the end of testing each person that voted gets to be entered into a raffle to win the speaker. I feel you would get a lot more speaker traffic this way. Waiting for one person to pay 500 and give you a speaker is a specialized type of market tightening the window of the type of speakers you test this has to be for any type of speaker for any type of person to be fruitful.
I wasn't expecting one person would give me 500 for measuring one speaker but rather something like 50 people each kick in 10 bucks if there is a speaker that has a lot of people excited but likely wouldn't end up in a review otherwise.
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
I wasn't expecting one person would give me 500 for measuring one speaker but rather something like 50 people each kick in 10 bucks if there is a speaker that has a lot of people excited but likely wouldn't end up in a review otherwise.
relying on readers to fund anything is wishful thinking. Aside from a handful of patriots/regulars on this site, the bulk of readers expect everything for free. I plan on offering a measurement/certification program that manufacturers can participate in. If they just want a product measured along with a test report, we can charge a fixed fee for that. This has a far better chance than asking readers to pony up.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
@gene really just nailed the "devil in the detail" right there. Some friends will contribute, perhaps even regularly, but getting a consistent contribution base to work from will be difficult. Something that will cover the cost of the speakers plus any S/H and testing fees would almost require a dedicated admin/logistics person to manage all the details.

It would be amazing if AH could arrange to do something like this for the community as a whole. I know I joked (rather seriously) about having a west-coast place you could work from periodically, and possibly have some volunteer labor to boot. :) (Remember, I have access to the Landlords tractor which has a fork attachment! Minimal heavy lifting required. Large flat field in a valley with plenty of open area... :D )

Still hoping a way forward can be found that would allow for greater ability to test and publish accurate specs for speakers!

Gene, Shady, and the rest of the AH team... This would be magnificent if you could do this! *fingers crossed
 
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